In this case, the concert was filmed with superb picture quality, and the same with Queen Live in Budapest.

So my question is; does the Blu-ray have more storage capacity, and therefore space enough for better quality than the DVD version of the same concert? And is that the case here, that the Blu-ray version is better ?

Yeah, Budapest and Montreal were recorded on film and then (relatively) recently sampled at high resolution so there's a big difference between the picture quality on those as opposed to the DVD releases. There has been other concerts released on Blu Ray that were orginally recorded on tape (FM Tribute, Rainbow to name two) that only benefit slightly, if at all, from being on Blu Ray due to the source.

So yeah, Blu Ray has a much higher storage capacity and you can watch Budapest and Montreal in glorious 1080p while if you buy the DVD you'll be watching the concert in standard definition.

Wonder if we might see these concerts ever released in UHD? Apparently Montreal was remastered in 4K for cinemas a couple years back.

Blu Ray beats DVD hands down in picture and sound quality. While a dual layer DVD can hold up to 4.7 GB of data, a dual layer Blu Ray can hold 50 GB of data. For picture quality, that means a DVD can top out at 480p (which means the picture is 480 lines and those lines all constantly refresh). A Blu Ray's picture can top out at 1080p.

Sound wise, DVD's usually come with a lossy Dolby DIgital or DTS 5.1 track. A Blu Ray will usually have either a lossless True Dolby or DTS-HD 5.1 track. Think of it as a DVD usuing MP3 for the audio while Blu Ray uses a WAV file.

If you have an HDTV, I can't see why you wouldn't go with Blu Ray discs. It's better picture and audio quality than a DVD and a Blu Ray player will still play, and usually upscale, a DVD.

BitterTears wrote:Yeah, Budapest and Montreal were recorded on film and then (relatively) recently sampled at high resolution so there's a big difference between the picture quality on those as opposed to the DVD releases. There has been other concerts released on Blu Ray that were orginally recorded on tape (FM Tribute, Rainbow to name two) that only benefit slightly, if at all, from being on Blu Ray due to the source.

Wonder if we might see these concerts ever released in UHD? Apparently Montreal was remastered in 4K for cinemas a couple years back.

While it's true that the FM Tribute, Rainbow and Odeon concerts were recorded to tape and are just upscaled to 1080, there still is no compression to the video which you will still get some on the DVD. Plus you still have the advantage of the lossless audio on the Blu Ray. And in the case of the FM tribute, you get the benefit of having both halves of the concert on one disc instead of the two of the DVD.

Thanks.. better upgrade to Blu-ray version of Rock Montreal then. Live In Budapest is already ordered! A great concert, where the lighting really shines in the dark. I always liked the Budapest concert, but my last buy was the VHS, so upgrade needed.

Rainbow though, is a funny situation, as although it was recorded on videotape, they very quickly transferred it to celluloid, for cinematic release. In doing that, they then didn't have the problem of trying to refurbish thirty year old video. Consequently I think Rainbow on bluray comes out of it better than say the Tribute Concert.

My personal viewpoint is that the Rainbow bluray isn't really that far behind the proper filmed gigs in picture quality when compared to say Hammersmith 75

What is left of your dream?Just the words on your stone.A man who learnt how to teach,But forgot how to learn.

I have Rainbow on Blu-ray. Yes, the quality is fantastic when you think about it, filmed before they got famous. I also think the stage and minimalistic green/blue/red ligthing fits the first albums like a glove. It sets the atmosphere. Simple, but very efficient.

Kes wrote:Rainbow though, is a funny situation, as although it was recorded on videotape, they very quickly transferred it to celluloid, for cinematic release. In doing that, they then didn't have the problem of trying to refurbish thirty year old video. Consequently I think Rainbow on bluray comes out of it better than say the Tribute Concert.

My personal viewpoint is that the Rainbow bluray isn't really that far behind the proper filmed gigs in picture quality when compared to say Hammersmith 75

Rainbow was an all around great release. Even on the DVD, the footage looked very good. On the Blu Ray, it's just a couple steps behind the Montreal and Budapest releases. I happily bought the deluxe box set and the only thing that could have improved the set was if there had been a digital download of the concert (meaning the video).

Knowing they remastered Rock Montreal in 4K, I would love to see the group release it on a 4K Ultra HD disc.

The Budapest concert looks wonderful. It's a shame they didn't film Wembley on actual film too. The only minor complaint I have on Budapest is that, when you watch the Blu Ray in a darkened room, the jump to the daytime, non-concert material hurts my eyes. But it's a small price to pay for such a great concert.

BitterTears wrote:I'd still say the gap between DVD and SD Blu Ray is pretty small compared to the gap between DVD and 1080p.

In terms of picture resolution, absolutely true. You'd get SD Bluray only for the improved colour range - you'll find it un-crushes a lot of the blacks and you get more variation in colour. Unfortunately this only tends to be if they've gone back to the SD source and re-transferred it for HD. And the truth is, the Freddie concert unfortunately looks shit on any format, and doesn't sound much better. It's almost like a stereo feed from the soundboard.

TheHero wrote:Thanks.. better upgrade to Blu-ray version of Rock Montreal then. Live In Budapest is already ordered! A great concert, where the lighting really shines in the dark. I always liked the Budapest concert, but my last buy was the VHS, so upgrade needed.

TheHero wrote:Thanks.. better upgrade to Blu-ray version of Rock Montreal then. Live In Budapest is already ordered! A great concert, where the lighting really shines in the dark. I always liked the Budapest concert, but my last buy was the VHS, so upgrade needed.

One of the unfortunate things about both Montreal and Budapest, was that being film, most of what went on the cutting room floor during the edits, wound up in the bin.

So when the band came to restoring the concerts to their full states, meant that they either had to be adventurous with the video footage, or had to leave it edited. I think on Montreal, there's a couple of songs (or bits of them at least) where they've had to use footage that doesn't exactly marry up to the songs you are hearing, but I think they get away with it.

What is left of your dream?Just the words on your stone.A man who learnt how to teach,But forgot how to learn.

I think the Montreal concert interestingly stands very well up to the standards of 2017. If I did not know better, it looks like it was filmed today with a 80s ligthing rig and 80s looking people. It could have been the Queen biopic, apart from the band itself.

If I remember correctly the Budpapest concert was filmed by a Hungarian film crew? The whole concert has a warm atmosphere to it, including the intro with the stadium and stage process, band arriving by Hydrofoil etc. A true gem and often overlooked because of the Wembley gig.

I think the Budapest concert is warmer, while Wembley comes out as the stadium rock concert.

Yeah, with Budapest, I've always felt the intro and non concert footage might have been filmed on videotape, as those bits have always been of lower quality than the actual concert itself.

The filming was a joint venture between MAFILM and the Hungarian Film Institute and apparently between them, they used every cinema quality movie camera in Hungary (maybe even the Eastern Bloc) at that time.

I heard a strong rumour that getting the "original" prints of the film back to Queen's possession was quite a task, and only happened comparitively recently to the Blu-ray release.

What is left of your dream?Just the words on your stone.A man who learnt how to teach,But forgot how to learn.